Mostly what I want to do right now is complain about the weather and how hungry I am. I’m going to keep myself from such trivialities except to say that it’s been VERY HOT and VERY RAINY for the past week straight and well, I’ve forgotten to make myself dinner because… sometimes you just need another adult around to be like HEY! GET YOU LIFE TOGETHER. Ok… so at least you know where I’m coming from.
Another truth is that I’m watching The Keepers and I think this feeling I have is actual paralysis because this show is so deeply hard and messed up and honestly really messed up.
After dinner update: Do not watch 4 hours of The Keepers alone in your home. It’s too much. Some things are just too much.
Here’s some of our week. Some things are left out because, just because. You know what’s going on. The world is melting around us and we really need to be committed to figuring it out because the dude at the top is a stone cold maniac.
โข We’ve really got to keep an eye on ourselves. It’s actually very easy to slip into REALLY JUST THE WORST PERSON TERRITORY. Let’s keep an eye on each other: 30 Most Disappointing Under 30. #ManicureMonday
โข WOW, so wait… if you were raised in the United States during the 1980’s and 90’s, your very high opinion of yourself has to do with California state legislator John Vasconcellos. How the Self-Esteem Craze Took Over America. Here’s what you should know: there was a task force / this study also involves Koosh balls (remember those things!?), and the demonization of red pens. Thank goodness I have a healthy medium-low to low self-esteem. Really dodged that millennial bullet. #veryhumblebrag / #lowselfesteembrag
โข At Home with John John Florence– he’s one of the world’s best surfers and you know what I did after reading about seven sentences of this article? I googled videos of this sweet baby angel being, apparently, part dolphin in the ocean. Conclusion, it’s amazing, you gotta watch!
โข My favorite tree of all. It blooms in Spring in Los Angeles and dots the city with bright lavender flowers. Luckily, Jacarandas are LA’s future. Follow up: I wonder if one of these beauties would like to come live in my backyard in New Orleans.
โข A very good idea for dinner: Creamed Spinach Pasta with sausage and pine nuts
โข I just really like to know what people have in their bags. What White House Correspondents Pack. These dudes are tech heavy, pretty boring, apparently don’t wear chapstick and I don’t know how they can live like that, honestly.
โข “He knows he has stepped off a cliff, pronounced himself king of the air, and is in freefall.” The Lonliness of Donald Trump. Without any sense of mindfulness, terribly frightened and puzzlingly insecure. It’s all so clear. Thank you for sharing this, Katherine.
โข Back on the kombucha train and I think it’s time I make my own. This was on my Summer Bucket List a few years ago but it never came to fruition (see how I didn’t take accountability for my laziness there?). Maybe this year is my bucha year. Also, The Kitchn shows us how to make our own scoby if you’ve for a free month to grow bacteria.
โข Happy Birthday to us Geminis– the lowkey psychopaths of the zodiac. Listen, we are the human equivalent to soft and beautiful suede and we’re a nightmare to take care of but we’re the best and most beautiful nightmare and that’s just the way it goes. So say we all. Or at least, so say us Geminis. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for being the worst, and let you know that my rising sign is something tolerable like, Cancer.
โข Talk amongst yourselves, I’ll give you a topic: Should white chefs sell burritos? This article makes some good points about cultural appropriation. I pray for a fair world, diverse, with compassion and understanding, and really all of the burritos we want.
โข I live in the city that guards its culture very closely. I’m an outsider often and folks sure will let me know. Nevertheless, I’m gonna bean and rice on a Monday if I want to: New Orleans Red Beans and Rice. Don’t care if I’m allowed. Spoiler alert: I’m not allowed, really.
โข Everyone is wearing chic picnic-wear this season.
โข I’m baking from the book Bread Toast Crumbs this week. It’s Alexandra’s Kitchen’s bread book. She bakes bread in bowls and I’m down.
โข Lastly and VERY important: “Jagged Little Pill” is getting the musical treatment and we all need to go. We’re going. That’s it.
Happy day to you and yours.
xo Joy
28 Responses
Ok, I admit I totally skimmed that self-esteem article, but I didn’t see any mention of Project CHARLIE. Did anyone else do that? “You are somebody special” was up on the board every week, and we talked about touchy-feely stuff the entire program until the last class. Then bam! It ended with a don’t do drugs lecture.
Well- no food talk. Watched The Keepers. Binge watched. Upsetting. Shocked. Incredulous. Really? A nun! Well- great documentary, but oh so sad. Still glad I watched it.
Agree x all.
OF COURSE your gemini – me too!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Joy, I have been reading your blog for a long time. This post is one of my favourites ever, honest and funny.
I, too, love Jacaranda trees because they remind me of my father’s tree lined street in Los Angeles where he lived over 40 years. As a kid I recall thinking; purple trees! Man is life grand or what. My dad would then say they are beautiful but messy, pause for a moment and then add “sort of like life kiddo.” Thanks for the memory Joy.
I would like to apply to be a member of the Jacaranda Fan Club. We have them here in Sydney too and they were a beautiful surprise when I first moved here a couple of years ago.
As a little girl growing up in the UK, I was very lucky to have two cherry blossom trees in our garden. Otherwise a bit of a tomboy, but the pink petal carpet was so magical to me. I guess that little girl reappears every spring, and the jacaranda petals have the same effect on me.
A large core of southerners are defensive of their regional culture by nature. In part, I believe it’s a byproduct of a long history of outsider ridicule. Underestimated and left unto ourselves for generations, there is now a feeling of invasion and usurping of culture. It’s like people want to put our culture in a mason jar, tie a bow on it and sell it to the masses. Some feel we’ve moved into the mainstream, but where is the fun in that? I just overheard at the grocery store a discussion I hear frequently — “oh, he’s a Yankee.” Our top layer may look a little smoother, but underneath there’s a lot of feelings. Strong feelings. We usually hold outsiders at a distance, but you can eventually win over our trust. Good luck with the red beans and rice.
I am OBSESSED with the Gemini article you posted. As a fellow Gemini, I had to laugh out loud at the suede line. Thank you, dear Joy, for these Sunday posts. They are always so interesting, and I love looking through them. : )
Lol. You KNOW the only person to write an article like that is a Gemini. And, in true Gem fashion, I LOVED it.
haHA! Same. I’ve never felt more understood than by that Gemini article :D. hahahaha.
I totally see the point people make when they point out cultural appropriation, whether dressing in clothing/costumes or making certain foods. I get it- as a white girl making an Indian curry I may be watering down your cultural heritage or dressing in a cheongsam I may look completely ridiculous and perhaps insult you. I really wish this didn’t have to be the case, and that we could learn and talk things out.
As an increasingly mixed society of cultures and ethnicities, I think we’re just going to keep blurring these lines of what is culturally appropriate to do whether we like it or not. Personally, I wish I could wear a sari or make a food my own that isn’t from my cultural background- this is my way of saying, “Hey guys, I really love what you’ve got going on here. I want in!” Is it so wrong to “appropriate” another culture if you really do love it? I say no. Make red beans and rice!
Making red beans and rice, or kale sweet potato tacos, or panang curry at HOME is not a problem. Go forth and do whatever you want to whatever ingredients you want. But start making money off it, and we start to enter the territory of who is benefiting from whose heritage. It’s also all relative. If you are the only person cooking Indonesian food in a small town in Kansas, where no Indonesians live, that is one thing. If you are in a multicultural city, making money by serving another culture’s dishes — you need to check your privilege.
I don’t want to think it’s the circumstances that makes it right or wrong. I want to think it’s intentions. As long as one acknowledges/cites where the inspiration came from and treats the original culture with respect and love, I hope it’s OK. Any and all cultures have evolved overtime drawing influence from surrounding cultures. By appropriately appropriating culture, one might add something to the history of it or spread the word about the beauty of that culture.
I was completely glued to my “tube” watching “The Keepers”! I finished the series and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it! The things people do in the name of religion, heartbreaking. I’m not sure what to think with white people appropriating “ethnic” cuisines. It’s everywhere, not sure why these women were the sacrificial lambs. One of the top restaurants on the country is State bird Provisions. I ate there the first year they opened, waited in line. The food was good, but there is so much good food here in San Francisco. Guess what they do differently? They serve ” dim sum, cart style”. I can’t understand why the Chinese community here isn’t up in arms about white chefs getting credit for appropriating their culture. Honestly? Other than that there are many places with just as delicious food. The list is endless, and that is just here. Although we are more culturally diverse than many cities. Where does it begin and end? And isn’t it more important to honor the culture/the food? Questions to ponder. That pasta looks delicious!
I’ve been making kombucha for a while now. Made my own scoby from a jar of purchased booch and now I have a scoby that just won’t stop growing. :) It got better after about a dozen batches and developed it’s own personality. Now I make a batch every week.
I have extra SCOBY and I’m always trying to get rid of it if you need some :) I’m Uptown/Irish Channel.
Love these link posts.
That Worst 30 Under 30 is HILARIOUS. Thank you Joy for always making me laugh!! xoxo
PS I’ve been making my own booch for several months and I LOVE IT. Make this summer the summer.
“The Big Book of Kombucha” by Crum and LaGory is really a must when getting started on booch. I reference it weekly for one thing or another… it’s a wealth of knowledge, and covers every little question you have!
I’m from a city that guards its culture closely, and I’m here to say that even being born somewhere like that, living there over 20 years, still doesn’t give you insider status. There are many layers of pretentiousness to swim through for permission. Appreciate your “I do what I want” attitude. =)
The kicker with jacarandas as a street tree in southern California is that they’re not particularly water-efficient compared to trees of similar height, they’re messy with leaf and flower litter, they self-sow at an invasive pace, and their limb strength is weak while they’re prone to adventitious suckering (meaning they can brain people all on their own, and without frequent maintenance they also create dangerous secondary branches with weak connections closer to the bark than to the anchoring vascular tissue).
If you like the flower color, Joy, you may want to consider a chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) cultivar. They’re generally multi-trunked shrubs that can be trained into small patio trees, they’re also winter-deciduous and wildlife-friendly, but their maintenance is easier, they’re far more tolerant to drought, and they’re not going to kill you in a freak storm. Ditto wisteria trained as standards, which are breath-taking when cared for properly.
Excellent points!
My very irstf batchbatchI’ll of kombucha is ready! I’ll admit I found it pretty intimidating and I read more about it than any sane human should before taking the plunge. I followed Tracy’s tutorial and it was a lot easier than I was convinced it’d be.
Excellent points!
As I am also hungry like you I am especially happy about the link for the pasta recipe :)
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com
Sorry about that! My phone is being a jerk… That should read “My very first batch of kombucha”